[1PS-295]
우수논문발표상 응모자Injectable ABA Bottlebrush Triblock Copolymer Hydrogels with Tunable Degradation and Controlled Drug Release
발표자지소운 (연세대학교)
연구책임자김병수 (연세대학교)
Abstract
Hydrogels are widely used as biomaterials in biomedical applications such as drug delivery and tissue regeneration. However, conventional hydrogels suffer from not only rapid initial drug release but also mechanical mismatch with native tissues as they rely on extremely high water contents (90–99%) to mimic the low elastic modulus of soft tissues. To address these limitations, this study presents a linear–brush–linear hydrogel system based on ABA bottlebrush triblock polymers. The central bottlebrush block enables low modulus at high polymer concentrations while improving mechanical compatibility with surrounding tissues. The linear end blocks consist of glycidyl ether–based ethoxyethyl and tetrahydropyranyl monomers, whose composition is tuned to precisely control degradation and release kinetics. This enables the hydrogel to serve as an effective drug delivery platform across a broad and diverse range of biological environments.